Still Joy Exhibition Opens at Gammel Strand in Copenhagen

The group exhibition Still Joy presents work by Ukrainian and international contemporary artists, all of whom reflect on the meaning of joy, community and love for life in times of conflict.

“At Gammel Strand we are deeply committed to showing how art can nuance our worldview and connect us with other people across time and geography. So when we collaborate with Kyiv’s largest art museum or dive deep into Danish art history, we do it because we live in a time when the world around us seems threatening, but when we nonetheless need to hold on to what is most important to us – as individuals and as a society,” says Director Nanna Hjortenberg.

Still Joy presents new works by eleven Ukrainian and international contemporary artists. The exhibition takes its starting point in a series of testimonies given by soldiers in Ukraine describing what joy means to them. Responding to these statements, the artists in the exhibition have created works revolving around themes of youth, friendship, community, nature and hope.

Featuring chandeliers made from pastel-coloured sweets, scenes from underground techno raves in Kyiv, skulls painted directly walls, and shimmering brass bells bearing the fingerprints of displaced people, the exhibition looks beyond the images of war and catastrophe presented by the news. Across different forms of artistic expression and media, what persists is a collective insistence on confronting the harsh realities of our time and preserving the capacity for human happiness.

Still Joy was originally developed by PinchukArtCentre in Kyiv, where it was first exhibited in the spring of 2026, as well as part of this year’s Venice Biennale. 

The exhibition is curated by PinchukArtCentre’s Artistic Director, Björn Geldhof and Curator Oleksandra Pogrebnyak, with further development in close collaboration with Gammel Strand.

Participating arists include: Álvaro Urbano, Ashfika Rahman, Kateryna Lysovenko, Oleksiy Sai and Yuriy Gruzinov, Pavlo Kovach, Roman Khimei and Yarema Malashchuk, Simone Post, Bögdana Kosmina and Zhanna Kadyrova.

Gammel Strand, Copenhagen, Denmark

18 September 2026 – 10 January 2027

Photo provided by Gammel Strand. Photographer: David Stjernholm